Jump to content

  • Please note, Blogs are intended for stories about your RV travels.  Please post technical questions/comments in the forums located at:

    https://community.fmca.com/

Blogs

GrampaDennis' Blog
 

Prince Edward Island Trip - Part 1

During the week after Labor Day, we took a trip to Prince Edward Island, Canada. It was the longest trip with our "Cottage on Wheels" so far. As I'm typing the story, it's getting a bit long, so I am breaking it into two parts. The attached album includes a few of the many photos I took. We left home on a Friday evening, after I got done work. We stopped at a Wal-Mart in Newport where we hosted a visit by friends. As they left, our friends pointed out a slack tire. I had just checked the pres
GrampaDennis

GrampaDennis

0
GrampaDennis' Blog
 

Watch out overhead!

One of our early expeditions involved working on a family project. Our son is building a house in Bow, NH, and had rented a house near the Merrimack River in Hookset, NH, to live in while building. Grandma and I took the MH to New Hampshire so she could live in it for two weeks while painting interior rooms in our son's new house. Because I still work about 3/4 time, I traveled to the New Hampshire project on weekends. It was dark when we arrived in Hookset. I knew that there were overhangi
GrampaDennis

GrampaDennis

0
GrampaDennis' Blog
 

Not an Off-Road Vehicle!

My sister and one of my uncles both have properties on Ripley Pond in Maine. In past years, I have taken our camper trailers in to my sister's place. However, our MH is a good bit taller and I was concerned mainly about the overhanging trees. My uncle's place isn't so far in. We did some reconnaisance and found that, with a little tree trimming, we should be able to get in. My uncle said "Sure, trim anything you need to." On the weekend after we finally got our new tires, I put a pole trimmer a
GrampaDennis

GrampaDennis

0
GrampaDennis' Blog
 

Tires

I wrote about our tire purchase in one of the forums a while ago. I'll put a brief version of the story here as well. From reading the Good Sam forums and the FMCA forums, I learned about the Michelin Advantage tire discount program through FMCA. One of the other FMCA members from Maine posted about the savings he got. I sent him a PM and found out which dealer he used. Grandma is a great believer in comparison shopping, so she called around. Sure enough, the best deal to be had on Micheli
GrampaDennis

GrampaDennis

0
GrampaDennis' Blog
 

First Trip

So, we had the "Cottage on Wheels" home, and basically functional, but it still had the original fifteen year old tires. I was looking into tires (a subject for another entry), but we wanted to take a little shakedown cruise. We decided on Meadowbrook campground, in Phippsburg Maine. It is less than 50 miles from our home, can be reached on two-lane roads. I didn't dare take this thing up to 70 MPH on the old tires. Also, Meadowbrook is not far from one of our favorite places in the world, Popha
GrampaDennis

GrampaDennis

0
GrampaDennis' Blog
 

Purchase

In June of 2013, Grandma and I got serious about our quest for a used motor home. We were shopping somewhat on the low end - under $30K. We browsed our local classified ad magazine (Uncle Henry's), Craigslist, dealers' web sites, and any other sources we found. We looked at 16 coaches in 8 days! Only 3 or 4 of those met our standards at all. We had one near miss where there was a very nice coach for reasonable money, but someone put a deposit on it about an hour before we called. On June 21, we
GrampaDennis

GrampaDennis

0
Roadtreking Blog
 

Albuquerque Balloon Launch Draws Class B RV Owners

When blog reader Harry Salt sent me these spectacular photos (see below), I just knew I had to share them. They are from the annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, now under way in New Mexico. Harry was part of two RV groups that attended – a Class B group and a Roadtrek group. “The festival goes thru Oct 13,” writes Salt. “After Oct 7 some of the group went on a ’walkabout’ for about 30 days. Supposed to have been at National Parks and Monuments but now they are improvising. It wi
Roadtrekingmike

Roadtrekingmike

0
Roadtreking Blog
 

RV Halloween Weekends Draw Big Crowds

The active RV season in the north is on limited time as the cold weather approaches, but before many of the RVs are put to bed or in storage, many RV parks around the country are hosting special Halloween get-togethers and site decorating contests. And the parks are filling up. At the Addison Oaks County park near our Michigan home, where we walk our dog several times a week, the Halloween weekend turns into quite a spectacle, with contests, trick-or-treating and prizes for the best-decorated
Roadtrekingmike

Roadtrekingmike

0
Tom and Louise on Tour in North America
 

Good News - Bad News

As of our last post we had just entered Colorado as the heavy rain and flooding occurred. We stayed for a week and got a first hand look at some of the damage. What we saw in the Denver/Arvada area was minor compared to the real damage which occurred in the mountains and out on the plains as the flood waters continued to disperse. There are towns in the mountains which have no road access to the outside world and likely won't have until sometime next spring or summer. Countless roads washed
tbutler

tbutler

6
Travels with the FMCA Prez
 

Flooded Motorhome

Have you ever seen a flooded motorhome? It is not a pretty picture. While preparing to leave Cincinnati, I decided to dump the holding tanks and flush the black water tank. I turned on the water and told Gloria to remind me about the water. Then, I decided we needed to visit a motorhome that just came in to the FMCA Roundbottom campground. While we were enjoying our visit with the Griffiths, the water at our motorhome kept running. Pat and Debbie Branigan came in to the campground to park, an
AmerEagle07

AmerEagle07

0
Everywhere America
 

Press one for English

I work as a trainer in the Automotive Industry. Dealers that are either under-performing or simply want to up their game utilize us for training. Whether training on basic sales process or coaching an entire management staff, we are known for "getting it done." I will share with you that 90% of what we teach revolves around customer service skills. Which leads me to my latest adventure......Satellite TV in the RV. Don used Direct TV. Not having utilized satellite before, and Don being gr
Jaimepoulin1

Jaimepoulin1

0
Travels with the FMCA Prez
 

Traveling with the Prez

After we left Cincinnati our trip was uneventful untill we ran into more water. This time it wasn't coming from the shower drain but from the sky. It started out as a few drops, only to get heavier and heavier until we could not see the 18-wheeler in front of us. It rained on us all the way to Millersburg, Ohio. The rain and wind was causing the leaves to fall like snowflakes and it was beautiful. The colors in this part of Ohio were further along than around Cincinnati. By the time we get to Y
AmerEagle07

AmerEagle07

0
Roadtreking Blog
 

Apps and Websites to Help You Find the Perfect Boondocking Spot

Ah ... the Sound of Silence. There really is a sound to it, you know. On a boondocking trip deep in the Michigan woods in Ogemaw County, we heard it good. There was the crackle of our campfire. A hoot of a distant owl. The yips of a pack of coyotes somewhere far to the west. The gurgle of the Rifle River moving over a stretch of rocks just downstream from where we were camped. The whooshing sound of wind whipping through a stand of pine. And on that clear night, the sound of boondocking silen
Roadtrekingmike

Roadtrekingmike

1
Travels with the FMCA Prez
 

It is October

It is now October and Fall is in the air. The landscape is changing to varying shades of red, yellow, orange and brown.There is a nip in the air that only occurs at this time of year. Motorhomes are traveling from North to South before the first signs of winter arrive. While we have been at FMCA's Roundbottom Campground in Cincinnati, the campsites have filled up every night. Since being elected national president of FMCA, we have been from Massachusetts to Oregon and states in between. We a
AmerEagle07

AmerEagle07

0
Everywhere America
 

What does this do?

Most of the time, I am just plain confused. Between being confused and trying to make certain that Michelle doesn't know how confused I am, I am pretty busy. I guess the thing that first confused me was how many sets of keys there are to our Coach. When we passed papers I asked Don for the spares and he told me they were already on board. 5 sets. Why there are 5 complete sets is kind of confusing in itself. If I manage to misplace 4 sets of keys I probably should not be driving a 40' coach a
Jaimepoulin1

Jaimepoulin1

3
Roadtreking Blog
 

RV Vacations Ruined as National Parks Shut Down

The budgeting mess and political wrangling in Congress over Obamacare has ruined the vacation plans of tens of thousands of RVers who had planned to camp in a national park this week. The closure of the national parks is also hitting hard the bordering communities whose economic livelihood is closely tied to a steady stream of national park visitors. At midnight, all activities at the parks, except for necessary emergency services, were immediately suspended and the parks closed indefinitely.
Roadtrekingmike

Roadtrekingmike

2
Roadtreking Blog
 

Copper Harbor, Mich. – the End of the Road

Everyone knows we Michganders love to represent our state by showing our hand. Here, try it. Take your left hand and extend it, palm facing out. That’s the Lower Peninsula, the familiar Michigan mitt. Okay, now turn your extended left hand to the left, and bring your handdown to the right so the fingers are pointing horizontally to the right. That’s the Upper Peninsula. Now bring up your right hand, palm facing you, thumb to the right. Put the left hand at the top of the right and…voila… a ma
Roadtrekingmike

Roadtrekingmike

0
Everywhere America
 

I'm not a mechanic, you want me to what?

To be clear, I cannot saw a straight board, hang a picture that doesn't wind up crooked, assemble a grill so that it looks anything like the "picture", and at 49 years old I still don't know what a mitre saw does. I am pretty handy with a cordless screwdriver as long as I don't have to actually use it and I own a pretty awesome looking array of tools. But I really couldn't tell you what half of them do. I am excited to use a couple of them but also afraid that I might have to. Don Hill thin
Jaimepoulin1

Jaimepoulin1

2
Roadtreking Blog
 

Here Comes Cold Weather: I Don’t Want to Stop Roadtreking for the Season!

I love fall. The blue skies are more blue, the air smells clean and crisp and has no more of the sweltering heaviness of summer. But it also makes me a little sad because, living in a northern climate like Ido, the approaching cold weather means it’s time to curtail my travel. It means long stretches of RVing inactivity. Of watching snow accumulate on top of the Roadtrek. Of having to winterize it. Of sneaking out there, turning on the heat, and sitting in it, remembering the places we’ve v
Roadtrekingmike

Roadtrekingmike

0
Roadtreking Blog
 

Roadtreking and the Interesting People You Meet

The RV life is so much fun because you don’t know what adventure is around the next bend. But the people you meet along the way are equally enjoyable. I don’t think Jennifer and I have yet to return from a Roadtreking trip without making some new friends. On our most recent trip to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, we met interesting people at each stop. Up at the Historic Fort Wilkins State Park in Copper Harbor Michigan, we found ourselves sharing a campground with husband and wife Roadtrekers Dav
Roadtrekingmike

Roadtrekingmike

0
Roadtreking Blog
 

Michigan’s UP in the Fall and Twelvemile Beach

This is the time to “come up to da UP,” as the Yoopers like to say. The flies and mosquitoes are gone, so are the crowds and the whole peninsula is bursting with bright yellows and reds as the annual fall foliage change explodes the hardwoods into jaw-dropping displays. And the sunsets are to die for. This year, the color change is later than normal. We came up last Thursday and it was just starting. As we head back downstate today five days later, it’s clear that its moving fast now. This com
Roadtrekingmike

Roadtrekingmike

0
Everywhere America
 

Look how far we've come, and we haven't even left yet.....

I have an appointment to have the Wrangler fitted for a proportional braking system on Wednesday. We have been using Mountain Road RV in Sabattus, Maine for servicing at the recommendation of the prior owner of our Coach.... Proud owners since July 31st of this lovely "floats on air" home on wheels that we bought, this 40' land yacht that I test drove for about a half hour before we blindly decided to dive in, feet first because our arms were flailing, to this world of full time life in a mot
Jaimepoulin1

Jaimepoulin1

5
Roadtreking Blog
 

Our RV Life: Discovering the Beauty Beneath the Blur

All my life as a journalist- for more than three decades – I’ve been on deadline. The presses would roll, the red light on the studio camera would blink on and, that was it. I had to be ready. Done. No more time. So the clock ruled my days. I was single-mindedly focused on finishing, getting to press time or air time. Then, I could breathe a little… and get ready for the next day. It was a wild, crazy, fun, frustrating and high-adrenaline occupation and I wouldn’t have traded it for the worl
Roadtrekingmike

Roadtrekingmike

0
×
×
  • Create New...